Chapter 214: Dark Boundless Realm 69
The influence of the Popov Clan far exceeds that of the Shu and Meng families in Hei Hai City. According to Ambereye, there are Awakened among the bodyguards surrounding Abrak.
The bodyguards by Abrak’s side are trained by a private security company funded by the Popov Clan, indicating that the purpose of this company was to ensure the safety of the clan’s members.
At the same time, this serves as a form of surveillance since the current head of the Popov Clan is Polina, who needs to ensure that Abrak is obedient.
Polina has eliminated capable and ambitious family members, leaving behind those who are either sufficiently compliant or incompetent. As Ambereye mentioned, Abrak’s strength lies in his obedience.
However, this obedience seems to be merely superficial, a disguise to deceive Polina. If he were truly obedient and loyal to the clan, he wouldn’t have allied himself with the Resistance Army; Abrak aims to rely on the Resistance to overthrow Polina.
“Is the Resistance Army still so good at making grand promises?” Kui Xin asked mockingly. “They promise this and that, yet how many of those promises have they actually fulfilled?”
“No, the Resistance is indeed planning to fulfill their promise to Abrak. They are looking for opportunities. Ghost didn’t say it outright, but I inferred that from his words,” Ambereye replied. “They also want to control the Popov Clan.”
“So, Abrak is quite valuable to the Resistance,” Kui Xin pondered. “But I wonder what their ultimate goal is… Their slogan about freedom and equality is loud, yet when it comes down to it, they’re not exactly free or equal.”
“They probably want to overthrow the Federation and take over,” Ambereye said matter-of-factly. “Did you know that the Resistance originally had a political party dedicated to dismantling the conglomerates…”
“I know, that party was later banned by the Federation and labeled a terrorist organization,” Kui Xin recounted words spoken to her by Augus.
“That was twenty-five years ago,” Ambereye stated. “Anything related to power is always filled with countless dirty dealings. Even the Resistance’s former party, although it claimed to be against the conglomerates, may not have had purely good intentions. Twenty-five years ago, the Federation still elected leaders through a democratic process. The louder someone shouted their slogans, the more they aligned with the wishes of the common people, the more votes they would get. It was during a peak in the human rights movement when ordinary people suppressed by the conglomerates took to the streets daily in protests. The Resistance’s former party seized this opportunity and began shouting slogans.”
Kui Xin said, “So, the Resistance gained a lot of support from the common people back then?”
“Yes, the civilians did vote to support the Resistance taking power, but certain individuals manipulated the ballots, and the leaders who rose to power were still aligned with the conglomerates’ interests,” Ambereye explained. “As soon as the new leaders took office, they issued a decree banning the Resistance’s party. However, they did not give up; they slowly amassed strength and moved underground. This incident caused quite a stir, and all public discontent was suppressed, with the media controlled. Over time, this matter was scarcely mentioned.”
“So the Resistance turned to illegal means when the legal path was blocked?” Kui Xin mused. “But it seems their opponents aren’t exactly legal either; manipulating ballots is certainly illegal…”
“That’s not important; what matters is the outcome,” Ambereye smiled. “No one cares about procedural justice; the fruits of victory have already been harvested… I only learned this information after joining; Ghost embellished it somewhat while explaining.”
To this day, the Resistance’s slogan remains freedom and equality, yet in light of the current situation, their claim feels even more hypocritical.
What they care about is not the populace but their self-interests.
“The forces behind the Resistance… are quite formidable,” Ambereye pointed up. “Those providing support may be the elite standing atop our world.”
Perhaps the position of the Resistance provides hints.
Kui Xin frowned slightly, recalling when she first entered the game, the faction name displayed on the game screen was “Federation · Resistance Army.” The “Federation” prefix speaks volumes, as the Resistance’s predecessor was indeed a faction within the Federation! In other words, the Resistance is a product of the internal political struggle within the Federation.
Kui Xin had already had some inklings before, but Ambereye’s words once again lifted the veil on the Resistance, giving her a deeper understanding of this organization.
Feeling a bit heavy-hearted, she felt as though the entire Second World was an unfathomable deep pool.
Every organization is fighting for its own interests, scheming against one another, living and dying in conflict, completely disregarding rules. The elites manipulate power, their faces hidden behind many veils, their eyes inscrutable, treating the world as a stage and a chessboard.
They arrived at the base of the Diamond Heart Building, which has many entrances. The main entrance is reserved for the prominent individuals living there, while ordinary employees must use the side staff entrance.
As Kui Xin and Ambereye talked, they circled the building. She used her electronic eye to measure the architectural data, while Augus provided her with the internal layout, helping her pinpoint the coordinates.
The structure of this building is incredibly complex, with countless rooms that can be dizzying. Given the size of the building, if a portal intended for a storage room is out of alignment and gets spotted in an adjoining hallway, it would be exposed. Therefore, confirming the coordinates requires extra caution.
Kui Xin took a button from her equipment bag and handed it to Ambereye: “Mechanized Dawn technology, optical camouflage button.”
She fastened the button to her attire and pressed it, causing the surface of her body to shimmer and blend in with the surrounding environment like a chameleon.
Ambereye, surprised, took the button, wore it, and pressed it as well.
“You seem to have acquired quite a bit of advanced equipment…” a voice emerged from the air beside Kui Xin, “but the shadow on the ground cannot be eliminated; light will still cast a shadow on the ground.”
“At night, shadows are less pronounced. Using this camouflage is a precautionary measure,” Kui Xin said. “Let’s go.”
She created a fist-sized spatial vortex at her feet and extended a camera into the vortex, which took images of the other side and transmitted them back.
Augus said, “Coordinates are correct; you can enter.”
Kui Xin breathed a sigh of relief as the fist-sized spatial vortex rapidly expanded. She jumped inside, closely followed by Ambereye.
The two invisible figures landed with barely a whisper.
Kui Xin looked around.
This was a storage room, chosen as a safe haven; it contained several cleaning robots in sleep mode, with no surveillance, allowing them to enter without worry.
“This is the two hundred thirty-fifth floor.” Kui Xin closed the spatial vortex and glanced at the ceiling as Su Rong’s report came through, “The two hundred thirty-sixth floor is Abrak’s reception room. He’s neither in the reception room nor the rest room; he is on the roof, where his servants are attending him while he swims. His bodyguards are also nearby, oh, and he even has several beautiful starlets with him…”
Ambereye nodded silently, suddenly remembering she had the chameleon button. Since Kui Xin couldn’t see her movement, she simply said “Mm,” indicating that she understood.
Kui Xin used data manipulation to view the images sent back by Augus, realizing that Abrak was quite extravagant—he preferred human attendants instead of service robots…
“Let’s head up, wait for him in a concealed spot, and try not to alert his bodyguards or servants,” Kui Xin pondered for a moment and decided to set the coordinates for Abrak’s bedroom and wait for him there.
Tonight’s operational strategy was to be low-profile, attempting to take Abrak away without alerting others.
Having fought too many battles in the past few days, Kui Xin wanted to take it a bit easier and accomplish this task without too much trouble.
At that moment, Abrak’s bedroom was empty, and the building’s security system was under Augus’s control, allowing Kui Xin to boldly open a spatial vortex directly into Abrak’s bedroom.
As soon as she stepped into the bedroom, she was taken aback by its luxuriousness. The middle of the room featured a four-poster bed large enough for ten people to lie across. When she stepped on the floor, she discovered that the carpet was made from real animal fur, resembling the fur of a polar bear. Three of the walls in the bedroom were designed as exhibition cabinets filled with various antique collections, rivaling a small museum…
Just a glance at Abrak’s collection dazzled her eyes; he seemed to have a great love for jewels and gold. The most eye-catching piece in the display was a crown gleaming with gold, adorned with rubies, the largest of which was even more exaggerated than a pigeon egg.
“No wonder he’s such an emperor,” Kui Xin cursed quietly before turning to hide in the wardrobe.
Pushing against the side of the room, a hidden door to the walk-in closet opened.
The lights turned on, revealing the walk-in closet filled with all sorts of accessories like watches and brooches, each glittering brightly. The display wall stretched all the way to the end of the hallway, where a large room awaited, filled with custom leather shoes and athletic sneakers lining the walls. Ahead, another hallway held various suits and casual wear.
What kind of closet is this? This is a luxurious palace!
Kui Xin’s eyes twitched; in that moment, she felt an absurd sense of being a country bumpkin in the city.
She activated the camera’s permissions and asked, “Do rich people live like this?”
“Yes, even their clothes are disposable; he wears them once and then throws them away,” Augus replied. “Any one of those brooches, jewelry, or watches is worth millions. If you took just one, you’d never have to worry about future operational funds; you could even ignore the need to kidnap Abrak. Some limited-edition jewels that aren’t sold are custom-made; you could strip the gold and gems and sell them. I’ve disabled the alarm in the closet; feel free to go in.”
Kui Xin remarked, “Small-minded.”
“What?” Augus asked, puzzled.
“When I could ask for one billion, this is small-minded,” Kui Xin said earnestly. “If even an illegitimate child has this much money, what about the others in the Popov Clan?”
Ambereye noticed that Kui Xin’s shadow lingered at the closet door without moving for a while and said, “What’s wrong? There are no ambushes or traps inside the closet.”
“…It’s nothing, let’s go in,” Kui Xin sighed.
Before entering the closet, she bent down and placed a fist-sized device beneath Abrak’s bed.
This small device was one of her gains from the heist operation, a colorless and soundless hypnotic gas grenade. Once the activation button is pressed, it will release hypnotic gas, causing anyone who inhales it to lose consciousness within ten seconds.
While waiting, a maid attempted to enter Abrak’s room to clean, but Ambereye controlled her thoughts, commanding her to leave the room.
Half an hour later, Abrak seemed to have finally had enough fun swimming with his female companions. They returned from the roof, descended to the second floor, laughing as they entered the bedroom.
Abrak kicked the door open.
The bodyguards certainly wouldn’t follow him into the bedroom and remained outside.
At Augus’s prompt, Kui Xin seized the moment to press the hypnotic gas grenade button and patiently stood still for twenty seconds.
Twenty seconds later, Kui Xin expressionlessly pushed open the closet door and saw Abrak and his female companion sprawled haphazardly on the bed.
They had apparently lost consciousness.
Kui Xin approached, holding a scanner to scan Abrak’s entire body, and the scanner beeped.
“Sure enough, a tracker…” Kui Xin removed Abrak’s necklace and watch and scanned again. The scanner beeped again, this time indicating a signal in the head area.
Thinking for a moment, Kui Xin pulled out a syringe and injected Abrak with a powerful sedative.
Then, she punched him twice in the face, causing blood to spray, his teeth scattered on the bed. One of the teeth had a small cavity, perfectly housing a mini tracker. The electromagnetic detection principle captures electrical signals transmitted through the air; if the device is switched off, no signals will propagate, preventing electromagnetic detection. The scanner’s rays can penetrate metal and bone, making it more reliable to use the scanner in this case; the technology of Mechanized Dawn is still trustworthy.
After one last scan, the scanner finally stopped alarming.
She stepped forward, lifting Abrak over her shoulder, and said to Ambereye, “Let’s go, mission accomplished.”
Ambereye pointed at the jewels in the closet. “Aren’t you going to take those? It seems your organization is short on funds.”
Kui Xin looked at the dazzling array of jewels, engaging in an intense internal struggle. “No, we can’t take them…”
Taking them would make it appear that they were merely here for the money, like thieves, lowering their prestige… Even though their initial intent might have been for money, the Popov Clan would surely capitalize on this point to cast them in a negative light, which would be detrimental to her.
Kui Xin wanted to slap the Popov Clan’s face, take the money, and maintain the organization’s prestige.
Damn, this is tough.
She reluctantly shifted her gaze and opened a spatial vortex to relocate.
